A TRIBUTE OF RECOGNITION TO THE TWO TIME SLAMMY AWARD WINNING KING OF HARTS, THE ROCKET, OWEN HART

By: Matthew Luongo

Wherever you are Owen, you are loved and will be missed, and I hope you are at peace, and without pain. My deepest condolences to the family and friends of Owen Hart.

To begin, many must realize this. Owen Hart was senior man in the WWF out of the competitors, even over the Undertaker. A man so incredibly underrated has lasted through countless tag teams, and has won several world titles. He's been a two time Intercontinental Champion, the European champion, tag team champions with Yokozuna, the British Bulldog, and Jeff Jarrett, the 1994 King of the Ring, and he would have like it to also be noted, a two time Slammy Award winner. Even with all these accomplishments, Owen was still greatly underrated and kept at mid-card status. He had everything there was needed for the spotlight, except all those years, his brother Bret kept him down. Eventually when Bret left, Owen was given strange angles that led him to nowhere in the WWF. All of this aside, he TRULY was the best Hart, and possibly the best all around wrestler the WWF ever had besides Shawn Michaels. He always did moves that made you say wow, especially his inzuguiri spin kick that put Shawn Michaels on the shelf for a long time. His selling was great. The "Ohhhh" sour faced expression when he got nailed on his face always let you know, that hurts, as opposed to the ANTI-selling of one Steve Austin. He was also the master of the belly to belly momentum plex, He did maneuvers like the missile drop-kick, picture perfect flying elbow drop, the backbreaker, the sharpshooter, the flying head-butt, all kinds of chainwrestling, and a move yet to be named in which he would jump to the top rope, fall on the ropes in a sitting position, flip backwards and hip toss his opponent. Owen strived to be better than Bret, and not only did he quickly do so, he KEPT ON being better. There was a point in time where Owen seemed to be slacking off last year, but it didn't last. He regained his ring status by winning the tag belts with Jarrett. He had twice as many signature moves as Bret, and was a better technical wrestler because Bret didn't wrestle very technically; he threw more punches in his matches than all the other wrestlers combined during the night. Owen was VERY precise with each and every move, Bret was sloppy and quick to make him SEEM stiff, but with so few moves, people became tired, Owen always did amazing things, like Backflips, stupendous bridging suplexes, such as the Northern Lights, a move I use because he did it so well. I became an Owen Hart fan after the 1994 King of the Ring. This was when I ultimately realized he was infinitely better than Bret, but Bret got more recognition. Owen had a much different career than his brother. Owen has taken out many wrestlers such as Mo from Men on a Mission, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and Dan the Beast Severn. Owen was always a threat to any wrestler, even though the WWF didn't let you know it. These dubious honors make Owen a feared wrestler in his own right. Bret can't say he was feared, because people were always the aggressors while Bret had to use his nonexistent "escapes" to win a match. Owen was resilient and won more matches than the WWF cares to let you know. Truly one of the greats, and hall of fame bound. It's a terrible shame he won't be around to see it happen.

Owen we love you, and we will miss you dearly. Rest, in eternal Peace.

NWA Independent Wrestler
Matthew "Uhnaun Imos" Luongo

Please, take a moment of silence to remember Owen Hart, and to pray and hope for the best for his family.